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RUSSIA TO SEND HUMANITARIAN AID TO SYRIAN ARMENIANS ABUSED BY MILITANTS IN KESSAB
18:46 02/04/2014
BEIRUT, April 2 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will send humanitarian aid to
Syrian Armenians who suffered abuse from local militants in Kessab
within several days, Sergei Stepashin, Chairman of the Imperial
Orthodox Palestine Society (IOPS ), told RIA Novosti Wednesday.
"At a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad we were informed
that humanitarian aid collected by IOPS will be sent to Syrian
Armenians who became victims of violent attack on their village
[Kessab]," Stepashin said.
IOPS delegation headed by Stepashin held a meeting with Syrian
President Bashar Assad, Prime Minister Wael al-Khalq, and members of
the Syrian Cabinet on Tuesday.
"We have already sent $2.5 million in aid," Stepashin asserted.
He also added that all the funds were collected by Russian citizens.
Home to over 2,000 ethnic Armenians the town of Kessab is located in
Syria's Latakia province. The town fell into rebels' hands on March
21 when al-Qaeda backed militants crossed into Syria from Turkey and
seized the village after a brutal battle with Syrian troops.
The Armenian government later called on the UN to protect Kessab.
Russian Foreign Ministry also expressed concern over militants'
attack on Kessab.
"The seizure by extremists of the town of Kessab elicited a broad
response in Armenian communities throughout the world," Russian
Foreign Ministry said in its March statement.
Moscow has previously directed humanitarian aid to crisis-hit Syria,
accusing the US of encouraging extremists who are financing terrorism
and supplying terrorist groups with weapons.
Spending on foreign aid by Russia reached $458 million in 2012,
while the world's major aid donors spent $125.6 billion, according
to the country's finance ministry.
18:46 02/04/2014
BEIRUT, April 2 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will send humanitarian aid to
Syrian Armenians who suffered abuse from local militants in Kessab
within several days, Sergei Stepashin, Chairman of the Imperial
Orthodox Palestine Society (IOPS ), told RIA Novosti Wednesday.
"At a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad we were informed
that humanitarian aid collected by IOPS will be sent to Syrian
Armenians who became victims of violent attack on their village
[Kessab]," Stepashin said.
IOPS delegation headed by Stepashin held a meeting with Syrian
President Bashar Assad, Prime Minister Wael al-Khalq, and members of
the Syrian Cabinet on Tuesday.
"We have already sent $2.5 million in aid," Stepashin asserted.
He also added that all the funds were collected by Russian citizens.
Home to over 2,000 ethnic Armenians the town of Kessab is located in
Syria's Latakia province. The town fell into rebels' hands on March
21 when al-Qaeda backed militants crossed into Syria from Turkey and
seized the village after a brutal battle with Syrian troops.
The Armenian government later called on the UN to protect Kessab.
Russian Foreign Ministry also expressed concern over militants'
attack on Kessab.
"The seizure by extremists of the town of Kessab elicited a broad
response in Armenian communities throughout the world," Russian
Foreign Ministry said in its March statement.
Moscow has previously directed humanitarian aid to crisis-hit Syria,
accusing the US of encouraging extremists who are financing terrorism
and supplying terrorist groups with weapons.
Spending on foreign aid by Russia reached $458 million in 2012,
while the world's major aid donors spent $125.6 billion, according
to the country's finance ministry.